Bob Dylan, the voice of Stamford Hill

One of the fixtures of the Jewish Tribune, the Orthodox weekly, is the Ben Yitzchok column, which takes regular potshots at institutions that fall short of the standards of the sages of Stamford Hill.

The columnist likes to sign off with a proverbial piece of wisdom to edify readers. Last week he excelled himself with this: “How many ears must one man have, before he can hear people cry?... How many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn’t see?”

Sounds familiar? It is not what you’d expect to hear in the steibl belt: the quotation is from Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ In the Wind.

Some may read it as a cryptic commentary on current events within Charedi London. But whatever prompted it, it's good to know that Dylan now has a strictly Orthodox hechsher.

Ben Yitzchok, I’m sure, would be grateful for suggestions for more lyrics to quote.